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Scoliogold?

I am trying to find out about Scoliogold, has anyone ever heard of it? According to the Scoliosis SOS clinic in the UK, it's the only nonsurgical treatment that is scientifically proven to help correct scoliosis (that's what it says on the letter they sent my friend).

I can't find any scientific studies, or medical documents, or anything to back up this claim. No-one seems to have heard of it anywhere. I would like to know who invented this treatment method, because it can't be anyone at the Scoliosis SOS clinic - the only medically trained person they have is one doctor who got her basic medical degree in 2004 according to the General Medical Council (though the clinic claim she is a "world renowned spinal expert"), and all the physiotherapists there are relatively newly qualified too. The Maude family, who run the clinic, have no medical qualifications at all.

The clinic used to say they teach the Schroth Method and they got a lot of publicity because it was supposed to be the first Schroth Clinic in the English speaking world (though the American clinics were open already and the German clinics all speak English) but for some reason it has changed to Scoliogold now - I am wondering if this is because they didn't offer bracing, which is an integral part of Schroth therapy? I know Dr Weiss seemed very unhappy with the clinic.

It really doesn't sound good to me, I can't find any info at all and the clinic isn't even registered with the Healthcare Commission so there doesn't appear to be any regulatory body overseeing what they are claiming to do.

This intrigued me, so I went to the website - www.scoliosissos.com
You've heard they saying too good to be true. The first pictures you see are of people doing exercises, which I agree can help with pain, stretching out the muscles and can train you on better posture, I know pilates made me feel good. But look at the result photos carefully. First, a lot of people are wearing the same outfit (how many times are you photographed wearing the same thing). Also, I can slump my shoulders and lean to the side to make my back look different, then stand straight shouldered, giving a nice clean line.
In pilates I was taught to position my hip and shoulders to actually be better aligned, practicing in front of a mirror I notice the difference.
I'm not saying that this won't help people, I fully believe in trying alternatives to surgery and medicine, but I'm also realistic. I do more research first.
Emily

My friend who has kyphosis wrote to Scoliosis SOS asking for more information as he's still in pain following his spinal fusion surgery.

They wrote back telling him that "every day you delay treatment, your spinal condition and symptoms are likely to worsen. This is because you are compounding incorrect posture. You can halt this inevitable progression by starting a ScolioGold treatment programme as soon as possible".

My friend is quite angry as his kyphosis isn't going to worsen, it's fused solid. He had given them all the details including the fact that he has two rods and a whole bunch of screws and a long fusion. To say that it is inevitable that it will progress is completely wrong!!!!

The letter went on to say that they have made an appointment for him, giving a date and time when they expected him to attend their clinic, and saying that if this date wasn't convenient, he had to call them as soon as possible to rearrange! He felt that this was really pushy because he only asked them for info about their treatment, not asked to make an appointment. He said that he felt like they were manipulating him to attend.

The appointment was to be with one of their "consultants". Naturally he assumed that this consultant would be someone like the consultant spinal surgeon that he was treated by on the NHS, someone with many years of experience and training. However, he called to enquire as to who the "consultant" he'd be seeing was, and it turned out that it was just one of the clinic's physios! Here in the UK, doctors working in the National Health Service can only call themselves "consultants" after many, many years of training and experience. The info on the Scoliosis SOS webpages shows that their physios are all quite newly-trained, and that they came to Scoliosis SOS fresh out of university with no prior experience.

We tried to find out which regulatory body the clinic was registered with, but it doesn't seem to be registered with or regulated by anyone! According to the Healthcare Commission, the Scoliosis SOS clinic doesn't have any doctors at all, otherwise it would legally be obliged to register with them. The Healthcare Commission seem to think that they only have physios. However a lot of stuff on the web claims that they have a Dr Olga Gronowska working for them, and she IS a qualified doctor. I think anyone who goes to this clinic should definitely ask questions about who is treating them, and what qualifications their "consultant" has!

And we still can't find any evidence anywhere that backs up their claim that "ScolioGold is the only non-surgical treatment in the world that is scientifically proven to correct hyper-kyphosis and similar spinal conditions". My friend has emailed them asking for sources of information and evidence, but they have simply ignored his requests. His surgeon has never heard of it! If anyone can point us in the direction of such evidence, that would be really interesting.

I think anyone should think long and hard before paying thousands of pounds to a clinic which is unregulated and which writes such misleading things in its letters.

alternative treatment success?

I also saw this site...it seems real to me...but what do I know...please if anyone out there has more personal experiences with scoliogold or other similar alternative treatments, tell us how successful or not it was.

I also saw this site...it seems real to me...but what do I know...please if anyone out there has more personal experiences with scoliogold or other similar alternative treatments, tell us how successful or not it was.

ksobecky,

I'm curious ... why you'd even consider this "program" after what you've seen written above?

You've got scoliosis veterans who believe the pictures are faked, and you have people (from within the NHS system) attesting to the false claims and credentials of this place.

sos clinic in uk

Originally Posted by orchid

I am trying to find out about Scoliogold, has anyone ever heard of it? According to the Scoliosis SOS clinic in the UK, it's the only nonsurgical treatment that is scientifically proven to help correct scoliosis (that's what it says on the letter they sent my friend).

I can't find any scientific studies, or medical documents, or anything to back up this claim. No-one seems to have heard of it anywhere. I would like to know who invented this treatment method, because it can't be anyone at the Scoliosis SOS clinic - the only medically trained person they have is one doctor who got her basic medical degree in 2004 according to the General Medical Council (though the clinic claim she is a "world renowned spinal expert"), and all the physiotherapists there are relatively newly qualified too. The Maude family, who run the clinic, have no medical qualifications at all.

The clinic used to say they teach the Schroth Method and they got a lot of publicity because it was supposed to be the first Schroth Clinic in the English speaking world (though the American clinics were open already and the German clinics all speak English) but for some reason it has changed to Scoliogold now - I am wondering if this is because they didn't offer bracing, which is an integral part of Schroth therapy? I know Dr Weiss seemed very unhappy with the clinic.

It really doesn't sound good to me, I can't find any info at all and the clinic isn't even registered with the Healthcare Commission so there doesn't appear to be any regulatory body overseeing what they are claiming to do.

Hello my daughter visited the sos uk clinic in dec 07(then aged 12)and has been following the exercise regime since. She only has a mild curve, spotted in June 07 and x rayed/and confirmed by NHS consultant Sep 07. Our NHS consultant said the most likely outcome was progression but it was possible but unlikely the curve may not change. Unfortunately it was obvious things were progressing at quite a rate by the time we visited the clinic the rotation and curve had visibly changed. By coincidence the week after we returned an x ray was due it showed a reduced curve. As this was only a reduction of 5 degrees it can really only be confirmed that things had not progressed, given the margin of error of x rays. The most recent x ray Oct 08 a further reduction in the curve was evident again 5 degrees. I have copies of the first two xr and I am waiting for the last copy. But dont know how to open them to put on email. Any advise they are on cd.
I am positive the exercise regime controlled the progression.
I found the clinic staff a dedicated lot, very confident in their abilities and who could blame them, in four weeks the group my daughter had trained with had improved their posture regardless of age or progression of curvature.
I hope this info helps